Last month, in my son's grade, a couple of students decided to irritate their teacher by not standing to salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher decided to use that scenario and assign everyone in the grade to write a paper on why or why not we should salute the flag. Here is the paper my son turned in:
The Colors that Never Fade
Do I have to salute the
This nation began
as a place where people traveled from across the seas to pursue their dreams;
and to be free. To this day, people
still come for the very same reason.
This country is not free by accident.
Thousands sacrificed time and their very lives to protect what some take
for granted every single day...freedom.
Americans are free to choose how they want to make a living; how they
wish to worship God; where they want to live; how big or small they want their
families; or how they want to voice their opinions.
On the flip side,
that very same freedom that people have died for, also gives citizens the right
to not work, not worship, not marry, and unfortunately, not salute the
flag. What a horrible tragedy that
is! That would be like not
saying, “thank you” to a military personnel for taking that bullet to the head,
or to the POW who was tortured because he or she was loyal to the country that
supports them. A postcard might as well
be sent saying, “Yeah, I really don’t care that you are missing the birth of
your child just so I can choose to live how I want to live.” Being free does give us that choice, but is
it right?
It is the patriots
of this country who understand and appreciate what the U.S.
The flag of the United
States of America America
"Run with the flag, walk with the flag, honor it, respect it, protect it. As long as it keeps waving, we are free!" ~J Bringgold
